Collapsible salvage pontoon



Dec. 31, 1946. J. A. cooK 2,413,313

GOLLAPSIBLE SALVAGE PONTOON Filed Aug. 17, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. J'on/v A. Cook Arromvzvs.

Dec. 31, 1946. J COOK 2,413,313

COLLAPSIBLE SALVAGE PONTOON INVENTOR. -Jamv A. Coax.

Wa y/ 4427 HTTGRNE vs.

Patented Dec. 31, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to pontoons for use in salvaging operations.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a collapsiblepontoon that is adapted to b inflated so as to. contribute the desiredbuoyancy thereto, and which pontoon is so constructed as to withstandthe most severe wear, tear and strain imposed thereon in salvagingoperations, both when the pontoon is deflated and is being connected to.the object to be salvaged, as well as. after such inflation when thesame is subjected to the pressures and strains incident to lifting suchobject.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a pontoon that isadapted to be, taken through relatively small openings in a submergedobject, such as through door openings in the hold of a ship, and whichpontoon is adapted to conform generally to irregularities as might occurby reason of cargo in the holds of vessels when the pontoon is.inflated, and without injury to itself.

Another object is the provision of a pontoon that is adapted to beeasily connected to a projection on a sunken object, or to a hook thatmay be on a line that is secured to such object, and which pontoon maybe readily inflated from several points thereon and which pontoon isprovided with safety means for maintaining the correct pressure thereinat different levels.

A still further object is a pontoon that is adapted to be collapsed toan elongated, generally tubular body that can more readily bemanipulated than previous pontoons of which I am aware.

Other advantages and objects will appear in the drawings and in thedescription.

In the drawings Fig, 1 is an elrevational semi-diagrammatic view of apontoon embodying my invention, a portion only of the woven outer cagebeing shown in detail in about the center of the figure.

Fig. 1a is a fragmentary elevational View of a portion of the cage andbag of the pontoon.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged plan view of the lower end of thepontoon.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 2.

Before describing the elements, in detail, it is to be understood thatthe closure at the upperend of the pontoon of Fig. 1 is structurallyidentical with that of Figs. 2, 3, except, that the upper closure isinverted as compared with the closure of Fig. 3. Therefore, only thelower clo: sure seen in Figs. 2, 3, will bedescribed in detail.

The pontoon illustrated herein is elongated and is generally globular orpear-shaped, with its larger end uppermost as best seen in Fig. 1,andcornprises an inner bag I of flexible, gas-tight material; (Fig. 3)which may be one or more plies of woven cloth treated with rubber orsynthetic rubber or any suitable composition material that is flexible,durable and that will provide the proper seal against escape of gas,such as air, from within the bag.

This inner ba I is enclosed in an outer, collapsible, flexible, metalcage 2 that is preferably woven to the desired shape from wire or cable.

The inner bag I, is provided with a pair of coaxial, circular openings,one being at each end of th bag and both 'beingcoaxial with thelongitudinal axis of the bag. As these openings and the structureassociated therewith are iden: tical, the structure shown in Fig. 3wherein the lower opening is shown, will be described in detail.

, The opening 3 in the lower end of the bag (and. upper end) may beformed by wrapping the plies of fabric forming said bag around acircular wire 4 after a circular plate 5 having an annular flang 6therein is within the bag. This plate and flange resemble a pan in whichthe bottom (which corresponds to plate 5). is uppermost, while the sides(which correspond to flange 6) extend convergently toward the centralaxis of the bottom, and downwardly, with the bottom curving incontinuation of its edges as at 7, to join the sides.

The portion of. the bag around opening 3 is adapted to be clampedtightly against the outer divergently outwardly facing sides of flange 6by means of segments 8 that are bolted to flange 6 by bolts 9.

These segments are separate parts of an annular member the radiallyoutwardly facing sides of. which coact with the curved outer surfaces ofother segmental elements It that are detachably secured to segments 8 byscrews I l for forming a concavely curved surface adapted to follow andto engage the cables or wires of the cage 2 where said cables extendover a. ring 12.

The cage 2, as already explained, may be woven to shape as by cablesextending over saddles 13 on rings l2 (one ring being at the top of bagI and the other at the bottom). These lengths of cable may extendangularly from said rings toward the major circumference of the bagwhere they engage other similar cables that extend angularly in theopposite direction as best seen in Fig. la. By interlacing the variouslengths as indicated, it will be seen that an elastic weave is providedso that the cage can readily be collapsed longitudinally thereof by asort-f hing action permitted between the various cables at the point ofmaximum circumference of the cage. The cage may also readily beexpanded, and this elasticity of the Weave also facilitates thdistortion of the cage without injury thereto. Such distortionordinarily would occur when the bag and cage might be confined in thehold of a vessel or in a limited space bounded by irregular objects onone or more sides.

The weave of the cage is preferably relatively loose, providing sayabout one inch mesh openings where the weave is most expanded. The cageitself may be about fifteen feet in diameter at its minor axis. Ofcourse inweaving a bag of about the shape illustrated in Fig. 1, thecables will be in several layers adjacent the rings I 2, as indicated inFig. 3.

Over each ring I2 may be looped cables I4 that may be gathered togetheron the longitudinal axis of the cage by a saddle I5 over which a hook orcable secured to the object to be salvaged may extend. Any othersuitable means may be secured to ring I2 to provide for connecting thecage to such object.

The saddle and cables on the ring at the upper end of the cage mayfunction ordinarily as a means for handling the pontoon, since it may bedragged into a ships hold or elsewhere, from either end, as may be foundto be most desirable under the circumstances.

The plate 5 at each end of the bag may be provided with an opening and aclosure I6 may be bolted to the plate around said opening by means ofbolts ll. This closure I6 in turn may be formed with a plurality ofopenings in one of which may be secured a valved inlet I8 provided witha conventional coupling for securement of an air hose I9 (dot dash line)thereto for inflating the bag. be secured a discharge conduit having amanually controlled valve therein, while a third opening may have a,conventional adjustable relief valve 2! therein. Other openings forother valves may be provided if desired, but under most circumstancesthe valved inlet and valved outlet and relief valve in at each end ofbag I is generally adequate, and particularly at the upper end.

The relief valves at opposite ends of the bag are necessary to controlthe pressure within the bag under any one or more of the variousconditions that frequently exist in salvaging operations, and at timesit may be desirable to adjust the two valves differently when thepontoon is vertical and fully inflated to insure their simultaneousopening in an emergency. This latter circumstance is due tothe differentexterior water pressures at said valves resisting their opening. Thehose connections at opposite ends of the bag enable filling it fromeither end, while the exhaust valves at opposite end enable manuallyexhausting the bag from either end.

The flange 6 around the plate 5 and closure I6 projects outwardly of thevarious valves I8, 20, 2| and thoroughly protects said valves againstinjury at all times, although an extra closure may be removably securedover the valves by screws II, said closure 25 being ported as at 25 toenable escape of air or gas from the relief valve.

The segments 8 and I0 may provide for passage of the cables I5 to thering I2 between the ends of adjacent pairs of segments, as seen in Fig.2,

In another of said openings may although as already explained, othermeans may be provided for connecting the cage 2 to the object to besalvaged than by cable I5.

By securing the various valves to closure IE, they may be readilyremoved as a unit from the plate 5, which is ordinarily desirable in theevent of a replacement rather than attempting to replace any one valvethat may require servicing.

By the structure above described, it will be seen that the bag I, whichmay be of canvas, rayon, nylon, etc., properly processed, is held withinthe cage and is supported, except at the relatively small mesh openings,against strain. The strain at said openings is relatively slight.

As the cage is directly connected to the object to be salvaged, thelifting strain is in the cables of the cage and on cables I5, Theconvergence of the cables forming the cage at the top of the latter,closes the mesh openings where the strain on the bag would otherwise begreatest. Thus the bag is not only supported against injury fromdetrimental strains, but the cage also protects the bag against beingtorn or detrimentally chafed or cut by external objects.

In actual use it is intended that any number of these pontoons shall beused as may be required to give the desired buoyancy. A plurality ofsuch pontoons may be hooked onto a projection found on the submergedobject, such as a ship, barge, etc. The shape of the pontoon illustratedin Fig. l particularly lends itself to the use of several of suchpontoons secured to a single point.

Of course, pontoons such as herein illustrated, may be used in the holdof a vessel, or rectangular cages and bags may be fabricated for use inholds.

If desired, the bag may be secured to the cage at different points, asby bands of canvas. Such bands may be at the maximum diameter of thepontoon as indicated in Fig. 1a wherein a band 30 is secured to the bagand extends over certain of the cables forming the cage at the pointwhere the hinge action between interengaging cables occurs.

The fact that the collapsed bag and cage may be dragged around columns,trusses, beams, etc., in the hold of a submerged vessel where there maybe relatively sharp projections, makes it very important that the bag beprotected against injury, and as the mesh openings in the cage aresubstantially closed when the latter is collapsed, there is practicallyno chance for injury to the bag.

In most instances I have found that a single z layer of a very heavytreated canvas or fabric is adequate for safely holding a pressure ofabout 60 lbs. per square inch where the mesh openings in cage 2 arelargest, and to protect the bag at such places where injury mightotherwise occur to the bag when the cage is expanded, extra outer layersof canvas or other tough covering may be provided between the cage andbag, These extra layers need not be treated to render them gas tight,since they are mainly protective and also they function to relieve thebag of strain due to pressure thereon at the mesh openings in the cage.

It is obvious, of course, that where the pontoons can be used in almostperfectly vertical position, as in Fig. l, the bottom end of the bag andcage can be open at all times, although I preferably use valvesgenerally as described, and the hose I9 in many instances is connectedwith the inlet at the upper end of the bag as the top end is mostaccessible.

The drawings and description are not to be Considered restrictive of theinvention, but rather they are illustrative of a preferred form thereof.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1,. A pontoon comprising a, flexible, collapsible cage of woven wire, aninflatable substantiallygas-tight, flexible bag within said cage of a,shape and size adapted to expand said cage when the bag is inflated witha gas, means carried by said cage for securing said cage to the objectto be salvaged, and a valved inlet and outlet carried by said bag forinflating and for deflating the same, a, ring at one side of said cageto which the wires of the latter are secured; said bag being formed witha circular opening coaxial with said ring, an annular member coaxialwith said ring to which the said edges of said opening are secured,means securing said ring to said annular member against removal of saidring therefrom; a plate closing said opening and carried by said annularmember, and said valved inlet and outlet being in said plate. 7

2. A pontoon comprising a flexible, collapsible metal cage enclosing aflexible and collapsible bag of substantially gas-tight material; saidcage and said bag being elongated when collapsed, and of generally thesame size and shape when expanded; said bag and cage being adapted to beexpanded upon inflation of said bag; a pair of coaxial circular openingsprovided in one of the corresponding ends of said cage and bag when thecage and bag are collapsed, a closure for the said opening in said bag,a valved inlet and outlet in said closure for respectively inflating andfor deflating said bag, and an annular member coaxial with said openingsand adjacent the edges thereof securing said cage and said bag together;said cage being woven to shape from cables, and a ring coaxial with saidannular member to which said cables are secured, means secured to saidring for connecting said ring to the object to be salvaged.

3. A pontoon comprising, a, flexible, collapsible cage of woven wire, aninflatable, substantially gas-tight, flexible bag within Said cage of ashape and size to expand said cage whenthe bag is inflated, said bag andsaid cage being arranged and adapted to be similarly expandedprogressively to globular form when said bag is inflated and the cageexpanded and similarly elongated to I generally cylindrical form whensaid bag is deflated and the cage collapsed; a relief valve at each ofthe opposite ends of said bag respectively adjustable to open at anydesired pressure of gas within said bag to automatically control thepressure within said bag; means securing corresponding ends of said bagand cage together; openings in opposite ends of said bag and cagecoaxial with the longitudinal axis of said cage, a closure in each ofthe said openings in said bag, said relief valves being carried by saidclosures, and means carried by one of said closures for securing an airpressure hose thereto and for admitting the air into said bag, and meansad- 5. A salvage pontoon comprising a cage formed of interlaced cablesdiagonally crossing each other and which cables are free from securementto each other at their crossing points wherebysaid cage may be collapsedto generally cylindrical form and expanded to generally globular formand vice versa free from detrimental strain on said cables at andadjacent said points, said cables being adapted to extend generallyaxially of said cage when so collapsed and expanded, a flexiblesubstantially fluid tight bag within said cage expansible under gaspressure within said bag for expanding said cage to said globular formwhen said bag is fully inflated, a valved inlet carried by said bag forinflating the latter, means for securing said cage to an object to belifted upon inflation of said bag, a pair of rigid annular membersrespectively at opposite ends of said cage when the latter is collapsed,said interlaced cables being directly secured to said annular members,said last mentioned means being secured to one of said members.

6. A salvage pontoon comprising a cage formed of interlaced cablesdiagonally crossing each other and which cables are free from securementto each other at their crossing points whereby said cage may becollapsed to generally cylindrical form and expanded to generallyglobular form 5 carried by said bag for inflating the latter, means forsecuring said cage to an object to be lifted upon inflation of said bag,a pair of rigid annular members respectively at opposite ends of saidcage when the latter is collapsed, said interlaced cables and said bagbeing respectively secured to each of said members, a relief valvecarried by each of said annular members respectively communicatingbetween the interior and exterior of said bag at opposite ends of thelatter.

7. A salvage pontoon comprising a pair of coaxial spaced annularmembers, a cage formed of interlaced cables diagonally crossing eachother and extending between said members and secured to said members,said cables being free from jacent each of said closures andrespectively sestrain on said cables at and adjacent said points,

cured to said cage for securing the cage to the object to be lifted.

4. A salvage pontoon comprising a cage formed of interlaced cablesdiagonally crossing each other and which cables are free from securementto each other at their crossing points whereby said cage may becollapsed to generally cylindrical form and expanded to generallyglobular form and vice versa free from detrimental strain on said cablesat'and adjacent said points, said cables being adapted to extendgenerally axially of securement to each other at their crossing pointswhereby said cage may be collapsed to generally cylindrical form andexpanded to generally globular form and vice versa free from detrimentala substantially fluid tight bag within said cage expansible under gaspressure within said bag for expanding said cage to said globular formwhen said bag is fully inflated, a valved inlet at one end of said bagwhen the same is col- 7 axial spaced annularmembers, acage formed ofinterlaced cables diagonally crossing each other and extendin betweensaid members and secured to said members, said cables being free fromsecurement to each other at their crossing points whereby said cage maybe collapsed to generally cylindrical form and expanded to generallyglobular form and vice versa free from detrimental strain on said cablesat and adjacent said points, a substantially fluid tight bag within saidcage expansible under gas pressure within said bag for expanding saidcage to said globular form when said bag is fully inflated, a valvedinlet at one end of said bag when the same is collapsed for admittingair into said bag for expanding it, means secured to one of said membersfor securement to an object to be lifted upon inflation of said bag, anopening formed in each end of said bag and the marginal portions of thebag around each of said openings being secured to each of said annularmembers'a closure carried by each annular member extending across eachof said openings closing each end of said bag, said valved inlet beingin one of said closures and a relief valve being carried mental strainon said cables at and adjacent said points, a substantially fluid tightbag within said cage expansible under gas pressure within said bag forexpanding said cage to said globular form when said bag is fullyinflated, a valved inlet at one end of said bag when the same iscollapsed for admitting air into said bag for expanding it, meanssecured to one of said members for securement to an object to be liftedupon inflation of said bag, an opening formed in each,

end of said bag and the marginal portions of the bag around each of saidopenings being secured to each of said annular members, a closurecarried by each annular member extending across each of said openingsclosing each end of said bag, said valved inlet being in one of saidclosures and a relief valve being carried by each of said closures.

10. A salvage pontoon comprising a flexible collapsible gas tight bag ofgenerally globular;

shape and having an upper and a lower end, means at upper and lower endsof said bag respectively for securing either or both ends thereof to anobject to be lifted upon inflation of said bag, a valved air inlet atsaid lower end for inflating said bag and a relief valve at each of'said ends of said bag for controlling the gas pressure within said bagupon inversion of said bag and also under varying degrees of expansionof said bag at different depths irrespective of such inversion.

11. In a salvage pontoon havin a flexible collapsible outer cageenclosing a flexible collapsible inflatable substantially gas tight bag,an opening formed in said bag, a circular plate for closing saidopening, said plate having an annular flange rigid therewith projectingaxially and inwardly thereof from its edges, means for securing theedges of said bag around said opening to said flange adjacent the outerfree edges of the latter with the said plate positioned within said bagrelative to said edges of said bag, and means for securing said cage tosaid flange and valve means carried by each plate disposed substantiallywholly within the confines of said flange.

12. In a salvage pontoon having a flexible collapsible outer cageenclosing a flexible collapsible inflatable substantially gas tight bag,an opening formed in said bag, a circular plate for closing saidopening, said plate having an annular flange rigid therewith projectingaxially and inwardly thereof from its edges, means for securing theedges of said bag around said opening to said flange adjacent the outerfree edges of the latter with the said plate positioned within said bagrelative to said edges of said bag, said cage being formed of cablestrands woven to provide a globular shaped cage when expanded by fullinflation of the bag, and means for securing the strands of said cagethat are adjacent said edge to said flange outwardly of said edges andvalve means carried by each plate disposed substantially wholly withinthe confines of said flange.

13. In a salvage pontoon having a flexible collapsible outer cageenclosing a flexible collapsible inflatable substantially gas tight bag,an opening formed in said bag, a circular plate for closing saidopening, said plate having an annular flange rigid therewith projectingaxially and inwardly thereof from its edges, means for securing theedges of said bag around said opening to said flange adjacent the outerfre'e edges of the latter with the said plate positioned within said bagrelative to said edges of said bag, said flange being curved incross-section with the convex side facing axially outwardly relative tothe axis of said plate and valve means carried by each plate disposedsubstantially wholly within the confines of said flange.

14. In a salvage pontoon having a flexible collapsible outer cageenclosing a flexible collapsible inflatable susbtantially'gas tight bag,an opening formed in said bag, a circular plate for closing saidopening, said plate having an annular flange rigid therewith projectingaxially and inwardly thereof from its edges, means for securing theedges of said bag around said opening to said flange adjacent theouterfree edges of the latter with the said plate positioned within saidbag relative to said edges of said bag, said flange being curved incross-section with the convex side facing axially outwardly relative tothe axis of said plate, and the marginal portion of said bag around saidopening extending over the outer convex side of said flange and valvemeans carried. by each plate disposed substantially wholly within theconfines of said flange.

15. In a salvage pontoon having a flexible collapsible outer cageenclosing a flexible collapsible inflatable substantially gas tight bag,an opening formed in said bag, a circular plate for closing saidopening, said plate having an annular flange rigid therewith projectingaxially thereof from its edges, means for securing the edges of said bagaround said opening to said flange with the said plate positioned withinsaid bag relative to said edges of said bag, a relief valve carried bysaid plate projecting outwardly thereof into the area enclosed by saidflange and being disposed wholly within the confines of said flange.

JOHN A. COOK.

